Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 117 posts

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#81

Post by derleth »

e3pi wrote: post #19
cake wrote: post #6

I'm curious as to why you would ask such a question. It reminds me of this book that I haven't read but might answer some of your interrogations : http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/11678

There is something special about Islamic culture: From review of linked book: ".....Suppose you wish to send $25,000 from Vancouver, British Columbia, to a friend in Helsinki, Finland. You would hand $25,000 cash to a Vancouver money changer (Hawaladar) in Vancouver, and receive code words (or an agreed signal such as a secret handshake) and a contact address in Helsinki. No actual cash moves out of Canada. Instead,…

> There are no written documents. The exchanges are based on mutual trust (perhaps for that reason unpopular in the United States?).

This would make it less popular in most of the developed world, with some exceptions, including (possibly) ones in the US. It's the difference between high- and low-context cultures, with the Arab world being generally more high-context than most of the US, with the exception of the South and Texas.

In addition, some subcultures are fairly low-context even if they exist in a generally high-context culture. A "Good Old Boy's Network" is going to be low-context regardless of where it is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_boy_network Exclusive? Yes. Exclusionary? Hell, yeah. Those are the costs of being able to do business on a handshake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_and_low_context_cultures

http://www.marin.edu/buscom/index_files/Page605.htm

http://www2.pacific.edu/sis/culture/pub/Context_Cultures_Hig...

This has more context:

http://www.analytictech.com/mb021/cultural.htm

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#82

Post by Amadou »

Here's one anecdote - a woman I know has a very youthful appearance. Inevitably when she has to provide ID, the person reading her ID will exclaim that she can't really be XX years old. They think it is a compliment, but it enrages my friend because that person has now disclosed her actual age to anyone near by, including any acquaintances that might be accompanying her.

So, she asked me to create a fake-id to use in such situations. We made a really low quality id - a laminated "state id" (not even a driver's license) from one of the more obscure states a thousand miles away from her residence. Completely ginned up, not even intended to look like the actual id from that state. The information on the ID was correct, except that her age was listed as ten years younger then she really is.

She's been happily using that fake-id in those circumstances where they are just being nosey and there isn't a legal requirement for an id. Being nosey means they feed that information into databases at companies like Blue Kai. The result is that she has a shadow identity in those systems that is exactly 10 years younger. If you look her up on a website like spokeo there are typically two entries - one for her true age and one of the fake-id age.

Anyway, the lesson I learned from all that is GIGO - these commercial profiling databases are no better than the quality of information that goes into them and the controls on that information are no better than a minimum wage clerk taking applications at Costco or the local gym franchaise.

If you intend to use a fake-id simply as a way to compartmentalize the pervasive tracking rather than commit fraud it does not take much. You don't need a birth certificate from a deceased child, or to bribe someone at the passport office. Just get yourself a fake-id like that available near most colleges and start using it - most of the people you show it too couldn't care less about its authenticity, even if they knew how to check they don't bother because it's not their job.

The one bit of tactical advice I have is to look up name frequencies and pick ethnically appropriate names that are very common. That will help to make your information blend in with all the other people with the same name.

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#83

Post by driverdan »

Ovid wrote: post #23

Source: a long time ago I read several books on this topic because I collected odd books and I found three of them in an estate sale. The instructions below are how this was done in the early 90's and earlier, but today, with increased security and faster records access, the information is probably well out of date. Traditionally, the best way to do this has always been to establish a solid "breeder document". This i…

You're right, this information is very dated. The "dead baby" method has been dead for a long, long time. Using someone who died when they're older is even less likely to work since they would have had an SSN issued and it'd be in the social security death index (SSDI).

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#84

Post by driverdan »

Sukotto wrote: post #18

Traditionally there are five methods to get a fake identity: 1) Work for a governmental agency that has a reason to give you one. [ https://www.cia.gov/careers ] 2) Enter a witness-protection program by testifying against murderous criminals 3) Buy one on the black market. This can be as simple as a barely-passable driver's licence for underage drinkers, or as sophisticated as a complete set of papers (birth cert, et…

The dead baby method has been "dead" for a long time.

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#85

Post by driverdan »

6d0debc071 wrote: post #46
onetimeonly wrote: post #28

Source: at 17 I was running a black-hat hacker collective and had, through a series of bad choices, got pretty deep into the 'real-world' side of that business: fraud. The day after my 19th birthday my house was raided by the US Secret Service and the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency in a worldwide coordinated swoop that took in dozens of loosely affiliated people. I have since completely rebuilt my life, so I don't…

> Everyone gets caught in the end. How would you know if they didn't?

They don't, it's the toupée fallacy http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Toupee_fallacy

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#86

Post by driverdan »

onetimeonly wrote: post #57
swalsh wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since you clearly know the process, can you give some tips on protecting yourself?

Actually my biggest lesson about identity theft is that most people just don't need to worry. The negative effect of identity theft in 9999/1000 cases is just the inconvenience of correcting the mistakes by informing various institutions about it. In the last 5 years or so, banks have got very good at clearing up the mess fast. You need to assess the risk, taking into account the very low probability of having your i…

This isn't true at all. You generally don't have to worry about credit card theft, you're not liable. ID theft is completely different.

If someone steals your ID and drains your bank account it's going to be much harder and more time consuming to get your money back. If someone opens credit cards under your ID it will be easier to correct than losing your bank account but can still be very time consuming. Often people discover the issue when they're applying for new credit, such as a mortgage. Correcting your credit issues can take months to resolve. They could lose a house they're trying to buy if they don't get approved.

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#87

Post by medde »

yesplorer wrote: post #79
medde wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't you just use any legit SSN?

whose legit SSN? You are hiding your identity so why start with using your SSN, then what are you hiding?

For example, use any SSN that can be validated, whether in use or not (I think there is a formula to validate SSNs)

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#88

Post by EGreg »

ParahSailin wrote: post #63
EGreg wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really that easy The technically safest advice is "don't talk to the police": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc

The SCOTUS just ruled that that doesn't work anymore.

What do you mean ... after all what do you always ask right after a client says "it doesn't work"?

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#89

Post by e3pi »

nisse72 wrote: post #68
e3pi wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is something special about Islamic culture: From review of linked book: ".....Suppose you wish to send $25,000 from Vancouver, British Columbia, to a friend in Helsinki, Finland. You would hand $25,000 cash to a Vancouver money changer (Hawaladar) in Vancouver, and receive code words (or an agreed signal such as a secret handshake) and a contact address in Helsinki. No actual cash moves out of Canada. Instead,…

I suppose the system only works as long as the net sum of all transactions arriving (+) and departing (-) any given location is zero in the long term. But I can imagine there are locations that are net payers and others that are net receivers of money. What happens then, to settle the difference?

This is straightforward, simple. The funds never cross borders. This is old, established popular exchange system. I expect there are more Hawaladars than there are brick and mortar banks. See Wikipedia.

Re: Ask HN: How does one create a fake identity?

#90

Post by tokenadult »

medde wrote: post #87
yesplorer wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

whose legit SSN? You are hiding your identity so why start with using your SSN, then what are you hiding?

For example, use any SSN that can be validated, whether in use or not (I think there is a formula to validate SSNs)

Social Security numbers are old-fashioned and don't have check digits like ISBNs. They are issued in patterns, but what you are trying to land on is a Social Security number that you can reliably use.
Post reply on HN